Plautus: Epidicus

EPIDICVS SERVVS
THESPRIO SERVVS
STRATIPPOCLES ADVLESCENS
CHAERIBVLVS ADVLESCENS
PERIPHANES SENEX
APOECIDES SENEX
FIDICINA
MILES
PHILIPPA MVLIER
ACROPOLISTIS FIDICINA
DANISTA
TELESTIS VIRGO

EPIDICUS, SLAVE
THESPRIO, SLAVE
STRATIPPOCLES, YOUNG MAN
CHAERIBULUS, YOUNG MAN
PERIPHANES, OLD MAN
APOECIDES, OLD MAN
LYRE-GIRL
SOLDIER
PHILIPPA, WOMAN
ACROPOLISTIS, LYRE-GIRL
MONEYLENDER
TELESTIS, MAIDEN

ARGVMENTVM
Emit fidicinam, filiam credens, senex
Persuasu servi, atque conductam
Iterum pro amica ei subiecit filii.
Dat erili argentum. eo sororem destinat
Imprudens iuvenis.

ARGUMENT
An old man buys a harp-girl, believing her to be his daughter,
at the persuasion of a slave; and, once hired,
he again foists her upon the son as his mistress.
He gives the master’s silver. For it the unwary
youth pledges his sister.

compressae ac militis
Cognoscit opera sibi senex os sublitum —
Vt ille amicam, haec quaerebat filiam —
Sed inventa gnata servolum emittit manu.

of the ravished girl and of the soldier
The old man recognizes by the contrivance that his face has been smeared—
As he was seeking a mistress, this woman was seeking a daughter—
But, the daughter having been found, she manumits the little slave.

ACTVS I

ACT 1

I.i
EPIDICVS Heus, adulescens. THESPRIO Quis properantem me
reprehendit pallio?
EP. Familiaris.

1.1
EPIDICVS Hey, young man. THESPRIO Who, as I’m hurrying,
seizes me by the cloak?
EP. A familiar friend.

TH. Fateor, nam odio es nimium familiariter.
EP. Respice vero, THESPRIO. TH. Oh,
Epidicumne ego conspicor?
EP. Satis recte oculis uteris. 5
TH. Salve.

TH. I confess it, for you are hateful far too familiarly.
EP. Do look back, THESPRIO. TH. Oh,
Do I descry Epidicus?
EP. You are using your eyes quite rightly. 5
TH. Hello.

EP. Di dent quae velis.
venire salvom gaudeo. TH. Quid ceterum?

EP. May the gods grant what you wish.
I rejoice that you have come safe. TH. What else?

EP. Quod eo adsolet:
cena tibi dabitur. TH. Spondeo. EP. Quid?

EP. That which is customary when one comes here:
a dinner will be given you. TH. I pledge it. EP. What?

TH. Me accepturum, si dabis.
EP. Quid tu agis? ut vales?

TH. That I will accept, if you give.
EP. What are you doing? How are you?

exemplum adesse intellego. euge,
corpulentior videre atque habitior. TH. Huic gratia. 10
EP. Quam quidem te iam diu
perdidisse oportuit. 11a
T. Minus iam furtificus sum quam antehac.

i perceive that an example is present. bravo,
you seem more corpulent and better in condition. TH. Thanks to this one. 10
EP. Which indeed you ought to have lost long ago. 11a
T. I am now less thievish than before.

E. Quid ita? T. Rapio propalam.
EP. Di immortales te infelicent, ut tu es gradibus grandibus.

E. Why so? T. I snatch openly.
EP. May the immortal gods curse you, as you go with grand, big strides.

nam ut apud portum te conspexi, curriculo occepi sequi:
vix adipiscendi potestas modo fuit. TH. Scurra es. EP. Scio 15
te esse equidem hominem militarem. TH. Audacter quam vis dicito.

for when at the harbor I caught sight of you, at a run I began to follow:
scarcely was there just now a chance of overtaking. TH. You are a buffoon. EP. I know 15
that you are, for my part, a military man. TH. Say it as boldly as you please.

quid ais? perpetuen valuisti? EP. Varie.

What do you say? Have you been well all along? EP. Variously.

TH. Qui varie valent,
capreaginum hominum non placet mihi neque pantherinum genus.
EP. Quid tibi vis dicam nisi quod est? ut illae res?

TH. Those who are well
variously, the goatish sort of men does not please me, nor the pantherine kind.
EP. What do you want me to say to you except what is? How are those affairs?

responde. TH. Probe.
EP. Quid erilis noster filius?

Answer. TH. Well.
EP. What about our master’s son?

TH. Valet pugilice atque athletice. 20
EP. Voluptabilem mihi nuntium tuo adventu adportas, THESPRIO.
sed ubist is? TH. Advenit simul. EP. Vbi is ergo est? nisi si in vidulo
aut si in mellina attulisti.

TH. He is strong pugilistically and athletically. 20
EP. You bring me pleasurable tidings by your advent, THESPRIO.
but where is he? TH. He has arrived along with me. EP. Where then is he? unless you brought him in a little valise
or in a honey-jar.

TH. Di te perdant. EP. Te volo —
percontari: operam da, opera reddetur tibi.
TH. Ius dicis.

TH. May the gods destroy you. EP. You I want—
to question; give your effort, your trouble will be repaid to you.
TH. You speak justly.

EP. Me decet. TH. Iam tu autem nobis praeturam geris? 25
EP. Quem dices digniorem esse hominem hodie Athenis alterum?
TH. At unum a praetura tua,
Epidice, abest.

EP. It befits me. TH. And now, are you then carrying the praetorship for us? 25
EP. Who else today at Athens will you say is a more worthy man?
TH. But one thing is missing from your praetorship, Epidicus.

EP. Quidnam? TH. Scies:
lictores duo, duo ulmei
fasces virgarum. EP. Vae tibi.

EP. What then? TH. You will know:
two lictors, two elm-wood
fasces of rods. EP. Woe to you.

sed quid ais? TH. Quid rogas? EP. Vbi arma sunt Stratippocli?

but what do you say? TH. What do you ask? EP. Where are Stratippocles’s arms?

T. Pol illa ad hostis transfugerunt. E. Armane? T. Atque equidem cito. 30
EP. Serione dicis tu?
TH. Serio, inquam: hostes habent.

T. By Pollux, those have defected over to the enemy. E. The arms? T. And indeed quickly. 30
EP. Are you saying this seriously?
TH. Seriously, I say: the enemy have them.

EP. Edepol facinus improbum. TH. At iam ante alii fecerunt idem.
erit illi illa res honori.

EP. By Pollux, a shameless deed. TH. But already before, others have done the same.
it will be an honor to him.

EP. Qui? TH. Quia ante aliis fuit.
Mulciber, credo, arma fecit quae habuit Stratippocles:
travolaverunt ad hostis.

EP. How so? TH. Because before it was for others was.
Mulciber, I believe, forged the arms which Stratippocles had:
they flew across to the enemy.

EP. Tum ille prognatus Theti 35
sine perdat: alia apportabunt ei Nerei filiae.
id modo videndum est, ut materies suppetat scutariis,
si in singulis stipendiis is ad hostis exuvias dabit.
TH. Supersede istis rebus iam.

EP. Then that one begotten of Thetis 35
let him lose them: the daughters of Nereus will bring him others.
only this must be looked to, that material be on hand for the shield-makers,
if in each campaign he will contribute to the enemy’s spoils.
TH. Cease from these matters now.

EP. Tu ipse, ubi lubet, finem face.
TH. Desiste percontarier. EP. Loquere ipse: ubist Stratippocles? 40
TH. Est causa qua causa simul mecum ire veritust.

EP. You yourself, when you please, make an end.
TH. Cease to interrogate. EP. Speak yourself: where is Stratippocles? 40
TH. There is a cause, on account of which cause, he was afraid to go along with me.

EP. Quidnam id est?
TH. Patrem videre se nevolt etiam nunc. EP. Quapropter?

EP. What is that, pray?
TH. He does not wish to see his father even now. EP. For what reason?

TH. Scies.
quia forma lepida et liberali captivam adulescentulam
de praeda mercatust. EP. Quid ego ex te audio?

TH. You will know.
because, for her pretty and liberal (well-bred) look, he has bought from the booty a young captive girl. EP. What am I hearing from you?

TH. Hoc quod fabulor.
EP. Cur eam emit? TH. Animi causa.

TH. This that I am telling.
EP. Why did he purchase her? TH. For the sake of his spirit, for pleasure’s sake.

EP. Quot illic homo animos habet? 45
nam certo, prius quam hinc ad legionem abiit domo,
ipsus mandavit mi, ab lenone ut fidicina,
quam amabat, emeretur sibi. id ei impetratum reddidi.
TH. Vtcumque in alto ventust, Epidice, exim velum vortitur.

EP. How many spirits has that man there? 45
for surely, before he went from home here to the legion,
he himself mandated to me that, from the pimp, the harp-girl
whom he loved be bought for him. That I delivered to him as obtained.
TH. However the wind is on the deep, Epidicus, then the sail is turned.

EP. Vae misero mihi, male perdidit me. TH. Quid istuc? quidnam est? 50
EP. Quid istanc quam emit, quanti eam emit? TH. Vili.

EP. Woe to wretched me, he has badly ruined me. TH. What’s that? what is it? 50
EP. What about that one whom he bought—how much did he buy her for? TH. Cheaply.

EP. Haud istuc te rogo.
TH. Quid igitur? EP. Quot minis?

EP. I do not ask you that.
TH. What then? EP. For how many minae?

TH. Tot — quadraginta minis.
id adeo argentum ab danista apud Thebas sumpsit faenore,
in dies minasque argenti singulas nummis. EP. Papae.

TH. So many — for forty minae.
indeed he took that silver from a moneylender at Thebes at usury,
day by day, and for each mina of silver, in cash. EP. Good grief!

TH. Et is danista advenit una cum eo, qui argentum petit. 55
EP. Di immortales, ut ego interii basilice. TH. Quid iam? aut quid est,
Epidice?

TH. And that moneylender has arrived together with him who demands the silver. 55
EP. Immortal gods, how I am undone—royally. TH. What now? or what is it,
Epidicus?

EP. Perdidit me. TH. Quis? EP. Ille qui arma perdidit.
TH. Nam quid ita?

EP. He has ruined me. TH. Who? EP. The one who lost the arms.
TH. Why so?

EP. Quia cottidie ipse ad me ab legione epistulas
mittebat — sed taceam optumum est,
plus scire satiust quam loqui servom hominem. ea sapientia est. 60
TH. Nescio edepol quid tu timidus es, trepidas, Epidice, ita voltum tuom~
videor videre commeruisse hic me absente in te aliquid mali.
EP. Potin ut molestus ne sies?

EP. Because every day he himself was sending epistles to me from the legion — but I had best be silent, it is best; for a slave-man it is more advisable to know more than to speak. That is wisdom. 60
TH. By Pollux, I do not know why you are timid—you are all a-tremble, Epidicus; so by your face
I seem to see that here, while I was absent, I have incurred some harm against you.
EP. Could you please not be a nuisance?

TH. Abeo. EP. Asta, abire hinc non sinam.
TH. Quid nunc me retines?

TH. I’m off. EP. Stay, I will not allow you to depart from here.
TH. Why do you now detain me?

EP. Amatne istam quam emit de praeda? TH. Rogas?
deperit.

EP. Does he love that girl whom he bought from the plunder? TH. You ask?
he is dying for her.

EP. Detegetur corium de tergo meo. ~ 65
TH. Plusque amat quam te umquam amavit. EP. Iuppiter te perduit.

EP. My hide will be stripped from my back. ~ 65
TH. And he loves her more than he ever loved you. EP. May Jupiter destroy you.

TH. Mitte nunciam, nam ille me vetuit domum
venire, ad Chaeribulum iussit huc in proxumum;
ibi manere iussit, eo venturust ipsus. EP. Quid ita? TH. Dicam:
quia patrem prius convenire se non volt neque conspicari, 70
quam id argentum, quod debetur pro illa, denumeraverit.

TH. Send at once, for he forbade me to come home,
he ordered me to Chaeribulus here in the nearest;
there he ordered me to stay; he himself is going to come there. EP. Why so? TH. I will say:
because he does not wish first to meet his father nor to be seen, 70
before he has counted out that silver which is owed for that one.

EP. Eu edepol res turbulentas. TH. Mitte me ut eam nunciam.
EP. Haecine ubi scibit senex,
puppis pereunda est probe.

EP. Ah, by Pollux, turbulent affairs. TH. Send me so that I may go at once.
EP. When the old man learns this,
the ship must surely go down.

TH. Quid istuc ad me attinet, 75
quo tu intereas modo?
EP. Quia perire solus nolo, te cupio perire mecum,
benevolens cum benevolente. TH. Abi in malam rem maxumam a me
cum istac condicione.

TH. What is that to me, 75
in what way you perish?
EP. Because I do not wish to perish alone, I desire you to perish with me, benevolent with benevolent. TH. Be off to the very greatest ruin, away from me, with that condition.

EP. I sane, siquidem festinas magis.
TH. Numquam hominem quemquam conveni, unde abierim lubentius. 80
EP. Illic hinc abiit. solus nunc es. quo in loco haec res sit vides,
Epidice: nisi quid tibi in tete auxili est, absumptus es.
tantae in te impendent ruinae: nisi suffulcis firmiter,
non potes subsistere, itaque in te inruont montes mali.

EP. Yes, go, indeed, since you are hastening more.
TH. I have never met any man from whom I would have gone away more gladly. 80
EP. He there has gone away from here. You are now alone. You see in what state this affair is,
Epidicus: unless there is some aid in yourself for yourself, you are consumed.
such great ruins overhang you: unless you shore up firmly,
you cannot subsist; and so mountains of evil will rush down upon you.

neque ego nunc quo modo                           85
me expeditum ex impedito faciam, consilium placet.
ego miser perpuli
meis dolis senem, ut censeret suam sese emere filiam:
is suo filio
fidicinam emit, quam ipse amat, quam abiens mandavit mihi.                90
si sibi nunc alteram
ab legione adduxit animi causa, corium perdidi.                        91a
nam ubi senex senserit
sibi data esse verba, virgis dorsum despoliet meum.
at enim tu praecave.

nor do I now by what way                           85
I shall make myself unimpeded out of impeded; the plan is pleasing. I, wretch that I am, drove
by my tricks the old man to suppose that he was buying his own daughter:
he for his son
bought a lyre-girl (fidicina), whom he himself loves, whom, as he went away, he entrusted to me.                90
If now he has brought himself another
from the legion for the sake of his fancy, I’ve lost my hide.                        91a
For when the old man shall have perceived
that words have been given to him, he will flay my back with rods. But do you, at any rate, beware beforehand.

at enim — bat enim, nihil est istuc. plane hoc corruptumst caput. 95
nequam homo es, Epidice.
qui lubidost male loqui?

but indeed — 'bat indeed,' that is nothing. plainly this head is corrupt. 95
you are a good-for-nothing man, Epidicus.
who has the urge to speak ill?

quia tu tete deseris.
quid faciam? men rogas?

because you desert yourself.
what am I to do? do you ask me?

tu quidem antehac aliis solebas dare consilia mutua.
aliquid aliqua reperiundumst. sed ego cesso ire obviam 100
adulescenti, ut quid negoti sit sciam.

you indeed heretofore used to give mutual counsels to others.
something by some means must be found. but I delay to go to meet 100
the young man, so that I may know what the business is.

atque ipse illic est.
tristis est. cum Chaeribulo incedit aequali suo.

and he himself is there.
he is sad. with Chaeribulus he walks, his equal.

huc concedam, orationem unde horum placide persequar.

I will withdraw hither, from where I may placidly pursue their conversation.

I.ii
STRATIPPOCLES Rem tibi sum elocutus omnem, Chaeribule, atque admodum
meorum maerorum atque amorum summam edictavi tibi. 105
CHAERIBVLVS Praeter aetatem et virtutem stultus es, Stratippocles.
idne pudet te, quia captivam genere prognatam bono
de praeda es mercatus? quis erit, vitio qui id vortat tibi?

I.ii
STRATIPPOCLES I have told you the whole affair, Chaeribulus, and indeed
I have declared to you the sum of my sorrows and loves. 105
CHAERIBVLVS For all your age and virtue you are foolish, Stratippocles.
Is this what shames you, that you have purchased from the spoil a captive, sprung from good stock?
who will there be to turn that into a fault for you?

STR. Qui invident omnes inimicos mi illoc facto repperi;
at pudicitiae eius numquam nec vim nec vitium attuli. 110
CHAER. Iam istoc probior [es] meo quidem animo, cum in amore temperes.
STR. Nihil agit qui diffidentem verbis solatur suis;
is est amicus, qui in re dubia re iuvat, ubi rest opus.
CHAER. Quid tibi me vis facere?

STR. Those who envy, I have found all to be enemies to me by that deed; but upon her chastity I have never brought either violence or vice. 110
CHAER. Now by that you are the more approved to my mind, since you temper yourself in love.
STR. He accomplishes nothing who solaces the diffident with his own words;
he is a friend, who in a dubious matter helps by deed, when there is need of deed.
CHAER. What do you want me to do for you?

STR. Argenti dare quadraginta minas,
quod danistae detur, unde ego illud sumpsi faenore. 115
CHAER. Si hercle haberem *** STR. Nam quid te igitur retulit
beneficum esse oratione, si ad rem auxilium emortuom est?
CHAER. Quin edepol egomet clamore differor, difflagitor.
STR. Malim istius modi mihi amicos furno mersos quam foro.

STR. To pay forty minas of silver,
to be given to the moneylender, from whom I took that on interest. 115
CHAER. If, by Hercules, I had *** STR. For what, then, did it avail you
to be beneficent in speech, if as to the matter the aid is dead?
CHAER. Indeed, by Pollux, I myself am being torn apart by clamor, I am being besieged with demands.
STR. I’d rather friends of that sort were plunged in the oven than in the forum.

sed operam Epidici nunc me emere pretio pretioso velim. 120
quem quidem ego hominem irrigatum plagis pistori dabo,
nisi hodie prius comparassit mihi quadraginta minas,
quam argenti fuero elocutus ei postremam syllabam.
EP. Salva res est: bene promittit, spero servabit fidem.
sine meo sumptu paratae iam sunt scapulis symbolae. 125
aggrediar hominem.

but I would now like to buy the service of Epidicus at a precious price. 120
indeed that fellow I will hand over to a baker, drenched with lashes,
unless today he first procures for me forty minae,
before I shall have uttered to him the last syllable of “silver.”
EP. The matter is safe: he promises well; I hope he will keep faith.
without my expense the symbols are already prepared for my shoulders. 125
I will tackle the fellow.

advenientem peregre erum suom Stratippoclem
impertit salute servos Epidicus. STR. Vbi is est? EP. Adest.

as his master Stratippocles arrives from abroad
the slave Epidicus imparts greeting. STR. Where is he? EP.
He is here.

salvom huc advenisse — STR. Tam tibi istuc credo quam mihi.
EP. Benene usque valuisti? STR. A morbo valui, ab animo aeger fui.

that you have arrived here safe — STR. I believe that to you as much as to myself.
EP. Have you been well all along? STR. From disease I have been well; in spirit I have been sick.

EP. Quod ad me attinuit, ego curavi: quod mandavisti mihi 130
impetratum est, empta ancilla, quod tute ad me litteras
missiculabas. STR. Perdidisti omnem operam. EP. Nam qui perdidi?

EP. As far as it pertained to me, I took care of it: what you mandated to me 130
has been obtained, the slave-girl bought, about which you yourself kept sending letters to me. STR. You have wasted all your effort. EP. How have I lost it?

STR. Quia meo neque cara est cordi neque placet. EP. Quid retulit
mihi tanto opere te mandare et mittere ad me epistulas?
STR. Illam amabam olim, nunc iam alia cura impendet pectori. 135
EP. Hercle miserum est ingratum esse homini id quod facias bene.

STR. Because she is neither dear to my heart nor pleasing. EP. What profit was there to me in your so greatly commissioning and sending epistles to me?
STR. I loved that one once; now already another care impends upon my breast. 135
EP. By Hercules, it is wretched that a man be ungrateful for that which you do well.

ego quod bene feci male feci, quia amor mutavit locum.
STR. Desipiebam mentis, cum illa scripta mittebam tibi.
EP. Men piacularem oportet fieri ob stultitiam tuam,
ut meum tergum tuae stultitiae subdas succidaneum? 140
STR. Quid istic?

I, what I did well I did ill, because love has changed its place.
STR. I was out of my mind when I was sending those letters to you.
EP. Am I to be made a piacular victim on account of your stupidity,
so that you put my back as a succedaneum for your stupidity? 140
STR. What of it?

verba facimus. huic homini opust quadraginta minis
celeriter calidis, danistae quas resolvat, et cito.
EP. Dic modo unde auferre me vis.

We are making words. This man has need of forty minae
quickly, in ready cash, with which to pay off the moneylender—and quickly.
EP. Only say from where you want me to fetch them.

a quo trapezita peto?
STR. Vnde libet. nam ni ante solem occasum elo *
meam domum ne inbitas: tu te in pistrinum 145
EP. Facile tu istuc sine periclo et cura, corde libero
fabulare; novi ego nostros: mihi dolet cum ego vapulo.

From which banker do I ask?
STR. From wherever you please. For if you do not, before the sun sets—I say it*—do not come to my house: you, get yourself to the mill 145
EP. Easy for you to talk that way without peril and care, with a free heart; I know our people: it hurts me when I am beaten.

STR. Quid tu nunc? patierin ut ego me interimam? EP. Ne feceris.

STR. What about you now? Am I to allow that I do away with myself? EP. Do not do it.

ego istuc accedam periclum potius atque audaciam.
STR. Nunc places, nunc ego te laudo. EP. Patiar ego istuc quod lubet. 150
STR. Quid illa fiet fidicina igitur?

I will rather undertake that peril and audacity.
STR. Now you please me; now I praise you. EP. I will endure that, whatever you please. 150
STR. What will become, then, of that harpist?

EP. Aliqua res reperibitur,
aliqua ope exsolvar, extricabor aliqua. STR. Plenus consili es.
novi ego te. EP. Est Euboicus miles locuples, multo auro potens,
qui ubi tibi istam emptam esse scibit atque hanc adductam alteram,
continuo te orabit ultro ut illam tramittas sibi. 155
sed ubi illa est quam tu adduxisti tecum? STR. Iam faxo hic erit.

EP. Some remedy will be discovered,
by some aid I shall be unloosed, I shall extricate myself somehow. STR. You are full of counsel.
I know you. EP. There is a Euboean soldier, wealthy, powerful with much gold,
who, when he learns that that one has been bought by you and that this other has been brought in,
straightway will beg you unbidden to transmit her to himself. 155
but where is that one whom you brought with you? STR. I’ll soon see to it she’s here.

CH. Quid hic nunc agimus? ST. Eamus intro huc ad te, ut hunc hodie diem
luculentum habeamus. — EP. Ite intro, ego de re argentaria
iam senatum convocabo in corde consiliarium,
quoi potissimum indicatur bellum unde argentum auferam. 160
Epidice, vide quid agas, ita res subito haec obiectast tibi;
non enim nunc tibi dormitandi neque cunctandi copia est:
adeundumst.

CH. What are we doing here now? ST. Let us go inside here to you, so that we may have this day bright. — EP. Go inside; I will now convoke a senate on the money-matter in my heart as counselor, to whom most of all war should be declared, from whom I shall carry off silver. 160
Epidicus, see what you do; so suddenly has this affair been thrown in your way;
for now there is no opportunity for you to sleep nor to delay:
it must be faced.

senem oppugnare certumst consilium mihi.
i abi intro atque adulescenti dic iam nostro erili filio,
ne hinc foras ambulet neve usquam obviam veniat seni. 165

it is a settled plan for me to oppugn the old man.
go, go inside and tell the adolescent now, our master’s son,
not to walk out from here nor anywhere to come to meet the old man. 165

ACTVS II

ACT 2

II.i
APOECIDES Plerique homines, quos cum nil refert pudet,
ubi pudendum est ibi eos deserit pudor,
quom usus est ut pudeat.
is adeo tu es. quid est quod pudendum siet,
genere natam bono pauperem domum 170
ducere te uxorem? 170a
praesertim eam, qua ex tibi commemores hanc quae domist
filiam prognatam.
PERIPHANES Revereor filium.

II.i
APOECIDES Most men are ashamed when it matters nothing; where there is something to be ashamed of, there shame deserts them, when there is need that one feel shame. You are just such a man. What is there that ought to be shameful, to lead home as wife one born of good stock, though a poor household, 170
to take her as your wife? 170a
especially her, by whom you acknowledge that this one who is in the house was begotten as your daughter.
PERIPHANES I revere my son.

AP. At pol ego te credidi
uxorem, quam tu extulisti, pudore exsequi,
cuius quotiens sepulcrum vides, sacruficas 175
ilico Orco hostiis, neque adeo iniuria,
quia licitumst eam tibi vivendo vincere. PER. Oh,
Hercules ego fui, dum illa mecum fuit;
neque sexta aerumna acerbior Herculi, quam illa mihi obiectast.
AP. Pulcra edepol dos pecuniast.

AP. But, by Pollux, I believed you
to follow to the grave, with pudor—with shame—the wife whom you carried out,
whose sepulcher whenever you see, you sacrifice straightway to Orcus with victims 175
and not indeed unjustly,
since it is licit for you, by living, to conquer—outlive—her. PER. Oh,
I was a Hercules, while she was with me;
nor was the sixth labor more bitter to Hercules than the one she threw in my way.
AP. Fair, by Pollux, is a dowry of money.

PER. Quae quidem pol non maritast. 180

PER. Which indeed, by Pollux,
is not married. 180

II.ii
EPIDICVS St, tacete, habete animum bonum.
liquido exeo foras auspicio, avi sinistra;
acutum cultrum habeo, senis qui exenterem marsuppium.
sed eccum ipsum ante aedis conspicor (cum) Apoecide 184-185
qualis volo vetulos duo.

2.2
EPIDICUS Hush, be quiet, have good courage.
I go out doors with a clear auspice, a bird on the left;
I have a sharp knife, with which to eviscerate the old man’s purse.
but look, I catch sight of the man himself before the house (with) Apoecides 184-185
two old codgers just as I want.

186
iam ego me convortam in hirudinem atque eorum exsugebo sanguinem,
senati qui columen cluent.
* * *                           188a
(AP.) continuo ut maritus fiat. PER. Laudo consilium tuom.                        189-190
nam ego illum audivi in amorem haerere apud nescio quam fidicinam,                191
id ego excrucior.

186
now I will turn myself into a leech and suck out their blood,
they who are reputed the column of the senate.
* * *                           188a
(AP.) immediately, that he may become a husband. PER. I praise your plan.                        189-190
for I have heard that he is stuck fast in love with I-know-not-what cithara-player,                191
I am excruciated by that.

EP. Di hercle omnis me adiuvant augent amant:
ipsi hi quidem mihi dant viam, quo pacto ab se argentum auferam.
age nunciam orna te, Epidice, et palliolum in collum conice
itaque adsimulato quasi per urbem totam hominem quaesiveris. 195
age, si quid agis. di immortales, utinam conveniam domi
Periphanem, per omnem urbem quem sum defessus quaerere:
per medicinas, per tonstrinas, in gymnasio atque in foro,
per myropolia et lanienas circumque argentarias.

EP. By Hercules, all the gods help me, augment me, love me:
these very men themselves indeed give me the way, by what method I may carry off silver from them.
come now at once, dress yourself, Epidicus, and throw the little cloak on your neck,
and so pretend as if you had searched through the whole city for the man. 195
come, if you’re doing anything. Immortal gods, would that I meet Periphanes at home,
whom I am exhausted from searching for through the whole city:
through the physicians’, through barbershops, in the gymnasium and in the forum,
through perfume-shops and butcher-shops and around the silver-dealers’ stalls.

rogitando sum raucus factus, paene in cursu concidi. 200
PER. Epidice. EP. Epidicum quis est qui revocat? PER. Ego sum, Periphanes.

By asking and asking I have become hoarse; I nearly collapsed at a run. 200
PER. Epidicus. EP. Who is it that is calling Epidicus back? PER. It is I, Periphanes.

AP. Et ego Apoecides sum. EP. Et ego quidem sum Epidicus. sed, ere, optuma
vos video opportunitate ambo advenire.

AP. And I am Apoecides. EP. And I indeed am Epidicus. But, master, at the best
opportunity I see you both arrive.

PER. Quid rei est?
EP. Mane <dum>, sine respirem quaeso. PER. Immo adquiesce.

PER. What is the matter?
EP. Wait a moment, let me catch my breath, please. PER. No; rather, rest.

EP. Animo malest.
A. Recipe anhelitum. P. Clementer, requiesce.

EP. I feel ill at heart.
A. Recover your breath. P. Calmly, rest.

E. Animum advortite. 205
a legione omnes remissi sunt domum Thebis. AP. <Quis hoc>
dicit factum? E. Ego ita factum esse dico.

E. Pay attention. 205
From the legion all have been sent back home to Thebes. AP. <Who>
says this has been done? E. I say that it has been done so.

P. Scin tu istuc? E. Scio.
PER. Qui tu scis?

P. Do you know that? E. I know.
PER. How do you know?

EP. Quia ego ire vidi milites plenis viis;
arma referunt et iumenta ducunt. PER. Nimis factum bene.
EP. Tum captivorum quid ducunt secum!

EP. Because I saw the soldiers going, the roads full;
they bring back arms and lead pack-animals. PER. Exceedingly well done.
EP. Then what a number of captives they are leading with them!

pueros, virgines, 210
binos, ternos, alius quinque; fit concursus per vias,
filios suos quisque visunt. PER. Hercle rem gestam bene.
EP. Tum meretricum numerus tantus, quantum in urbe omni fuit,
obviam ornatae occurrebant suis quaeque amatoribus,
eos captabant.

boys, virgins, 210
two apiece, three apiece, another five; there is a concourse through the streets,
each goes to see his sons. PER. By Hercules, the thing is done well.
EP. Then the number of prostitutes was as great as there was in the whole city,
decked out they were meeting each her own lovers,
they were trying to catch them.

id adeo qui maxime animum advorterim? 215
pleraeque eae sub vestimentis secum habebant retia.
quom ad portam venio, atque ego illam illi video praestolarier
et cum ea tibicinae ibant quattuor. PER. Quicum, Epidice?

This, indeed, is what I most turned my mind to? 215
most of them had nets with them under their garments.
when I come to the gate, I see that girl waiting for him,
and with her there were going four flute-girls. PER. With whom, Epidicus?

EP. Cum illa quam tuos gnatus annos multos deamat, deperit,
ubi fidemque remque seque teque properat perdere; 220
ea praestolabatur illum apud portam. PER. Viden veneficam?
EP. Sed vestita, aurata, ornata ut lepide, ut concinne, ut nove.

EP. With that one whom your son for many years adores, perishes for,
who hastens to lose faith and fortune and herself and you; 220
she was waiting for him at the gate. PER. Do you see the sorceress?
EP. But dressed, aureate, ornate—how charmingly, how trimly, how newly.

PER. Quid erat induta? an regillam induculam an mendiculam?
EP. Inpluviatam, ut istaec faciunt vestimentis nomina.

PER. What was she clad in? A little regal under-shift, or a little mendicant one?
EP. A pluvial one, as these women make up names for garments.

PER. Vtin inpluvium induta fuerit? EP. Quid istuc tam mirabile est? 225
quasi non fundis exornatae multae incedant per vias.
at tributus quom imperatus est, negant pendi potis:
illis quibus tributus maior penditur, pendi potest.

PER. What, that she had put on an impluvium? EP. What is so marvelous about that? 225
as though many do not walk along the streets adorned with slings.
but when a tribute is commanded, they say it cannot be paid:
for those on whom a greater tribute is weighed, it can be paid.

quid istae, quae vesti quotannis nomina inveniunt nova?
tunicam rallam, tunicam spissam, linteolum caesicium, 230
indusiatam, patagiatam, caltulam aut crocotulam,
subparum aut subnimium, ricam, basilicum aut exoticum,
cumatile aut plumatile, carinum aut cerinum — gerrae maxumae.
cani quoque etiam ademptumst nomen.

what about those who every year invent new names for clothing?
a thin tunic, a thick tunic, a little caesious linen-cloth, 230
an indusiated one, a patagiated one, a little caltula or a little crocotula,
a somewhat-too-little or a somewhat-too-much, a veil, a basilic or an exotic,
a cymatile or plumatile, carine or cerine — the greatest balderdash. even the name for the grey-haired has been taken away.

PER. Qui? EP. Vocant Laconicum.
haec vocabula auctiones subigunt ut faciant viros. 235
AP. Quin tu ut occepisti loquere?

PER. How? EP. They call
it a Laconian.
these words drive auctions to make men. 235
AP. Why don’t you speak on as you began?

EP. Occepere aliae mulieres
duae post me sic fabulari inter sese — ego abscessi sciens
paulum ab illis, dissimulabam earum operam sermoni dare;
nec satis exaudibam, nec sermonis fallebar tamen,
quae loquerentur. PER. Id lubidost scire. EP. Ibi illarum altera 240
dixit illi quicum ipsa ibat — PER. Quid?

EP. Other women, two of them, behind me began to chatter among themselves in this way— I knowingly stepped aside
a little from them, I was pretending not to give my attention to their conversation;
neither did I quite catch it distinctly, nor was I nevertheless deceived as to the sense of the talk, what they were saying. PER. That’s what I’m eager to know. EP. There one of them 240
said to the one with whom she herself was walking — PER. What?

EP. Tace ergo, ut audias
postquam illam sunt conspicatae, quam tuos gnatus deperit:
'quam facile et quam fortunate evenit illi, obsecro,
mulieri, quam liberare volt amator.' 'quisnam is est?'
inquit altera illi. ibi illa nominat Stratippoclem 245
Periphanai filium. PER. Perii hercle.

EP. Be silent then, so that you may hear
after they had caught sight of that woman whom your son is madly in love with:
'how easily and how fortunately it turns out for that woman, I beseech,
whom her lover wants to liberate.' 'Who then is he?'
says the other to her. Thereupon she names Stratippocles, 245
son of Periphanes. PER. I’m undone, by Hercules.

quid ego ex te audio?
EP. Hoc quod actum est. egomet postquam id illas audivi loqui,
coepi rursum vorsum ad illas pauxillatim accedere,
quasi retruderet hominum me vis invitum.

what do I hear from you?
EP. This that has been done. I myself, after I heard them say that,
I began again, turned toward them, to approach little by little,
as if the force of men were thrusting me back, against my will.

PER. Intellego.
EP. Ibi illa interrogavit illam: 'qui scis? quis id dixit tibi?' 250
'quin hodie adlatae tabellae sunt ad eam a Stratippocle,
eum argentum sumpsisse apud Thebas ab danista faenore,
id paratum et sese ob eam rem id ferre.

PER. I understand.
EP. Thereupon that one asked the other: 'How do you know? Who told you that?' 250
'Why, today tablets have been brought to her from Stratippocles,
that he has taken silver at Thebes from a moneylender at interest,
that it is ready and that he, for that reason, is bringing it.

PER. Certo ego occidi.
EP. Haec sic aibat: sic audivisse ex eapse atque epistula.
PER. Quid ego nunc faciam?

PER. Surely I am slain.
EP. She was saying this thus: that thus she had heard from the woman herself and from the epistle.
PER. What am I to do now?

consilium a te expetesso, Apoecides. 255
AP. Reperiamus aliquid calidi conducibilis consili.
nam ille quidem aut iam hic aderit, credo hercle, aut iam adest. EP. Si aequom siet
me plus sapere quam vos, dederim vobis consilium catum,
quod laudetis, ut ego opino, uterque, PER. Ergo ubi id est, Epidice?

I seek counsel from you, Apoecides. 255
AP. Let us find some brisk, advantageous counsel.
for that fellow either will be here now, by Hercules I believe, or is already here. EP. If it were equitable
for me to know more than you, I would give you a shrewd counsel,
which, as I suppose, each of you would praise, PER. Then where is it,
Epidicus?

EP. Atque ad eam rem conducibile. AP. Quid istuc dubitas dicere? 260
EP. Vos priores esse oportet, nos posterius dicere,
qui plus sapitis. PER. Eia vero, age dic.

EP. And conducive for that matter. AP. Why do you hesitate
to say that? 260
EP. You ought to be first, we to speak afterwards,
you who are the wiser. PER. Come now indeed, go on, say it.

EP. At deridebitis.
AP. Non edepol faciemus. EP. Immo, si placebit, utitor,
consilium si non placebit, reperitote rectius.

EP. But you will deride me.
AP. By Pollux, we will not do it. EP. Rather, if it pleases, make use of it,
if the counsel does not please, discover something more correct.

mihi istic nec seritur nec metitur, nisi ea quae tu vis volo. 265
PER. Gratiam habeo; fac participes nos tuae sapientiae.
EP. Continuo arbitretur uxor tuo gnato atque ut fidicinam
illam quam is volt liberare, quae illum corrumpit tibi,
ulciscare atque ita curetur, usque ad mortem ut serviat.
AP. Fieri oportet.

for me there is neither sowing nor reaping there, unless I will what you wish. 265
PER. I give thanks; make us participants of your wisdom.
EP. At once let it be decided that a wife be assigned to your son; and as for that lyre-girl whom he wants to free, who corrupts him to your detriment, take vengeance, and let it be so managed that she serve even unto death.
AP. It ought to be done.

PER. Facere cupio quidvis, dum id fiat modo. EP. Em, 270
nunc occasiost faciundi, prius quam in urbem advenerit,
sicut cras hic aderit, hodie non venit. PER. Qui scis?

PER. I am eager to do anything, so long as it gets done. EP. Look, 270
now is the opportunity for doing, before he arrives in the city,
since, as he will be here tomorrow, today he has not come. PER. How do you know?

EP. Scio.
quia mihi alius dixit qui illinc venit, mane hic adfore.
PER. Quin tu eloquere, quid faciemus?

EP. I know.
because another told me, who came from there, that in the morning he will be here.
PER. Why don’t you speak out, what shall we do?

EP. Sic faciundum censeo
quasi tu cupias liberare fidicinam animi gratia 275
quasique ames vehementer tu illam. P. Quam ad rem istuc refert? E. Rogas?

EP. Thus I judge it should be done,
as if you were eager to free the lyre-girl for pleasure’s sake 275
and as if you loved her vehemently. P. To what matter does that pertain? E. You ask?

ut enim praestines argento, prius quam veniat filius,
atque ut eam te in libertatem dicas emere, PER. Intellego.
EP. Vbi erit empta, ut aliquo ex urbe amoveas; nisi quid est tua
secus sententia. PER. Immo docte.

so that you may advance the money, before the son arrives,
and that you say you are buying her into liberty. PER. I understand.
EP. When she has been bought, that you remove her somewhere out of the city; unless your
opinion is otherwise. PER. No indeed—cleverly.

EP. Quid tua autem, Apoecides? 280
AP. Quid ego iam nisi te commentum nimis astute intellego?
EP. Iam <simul> igitur amota ei erit omnis consultatio
nuptiarum, ne gravetur quod velis. PER. Vive sapis,
et placet.

EP. But what about you, Apoecides? 280
AP. What am I now, except that I understand you to have contrived too astutely?
EP. Now <simul> therefore every consultation about nuptials will have been removed from her,
so that she may not be burdened by what you wish. PER. Live—you are wise,
and it pleases.

EP. Tum tu igitur calide quidquid acturu's age.
PER. Rem hercle loquere. EP. Et repperi, haec te qui abscedat suspicio.

EP. Then therefore, do cleverly whatever you are going to do.
PER. By Hercules, you speak to the point. EP. And I have found how this suspicion may
leave you.

285
PER. Sine me scire. EP. Scibis, audi. AP. Sapit hic pleno pectore.

285
PER. Let me know. EP. You will know; listen. AP. He is wise
this man, with a full breast.

EP. Opus est homine qui illo argentum deferat pro fidicina;
nam te nolo neque opus factost. PER. Quid iam? EP. Ne te censeat
fili causa facere, PER. Docte.

EP. There is need of a man to carry the silver there for the music-girl;
for I do not want you, nor is there any need. PER. What now? EP. Lest
he think
you are doing it for your son’s sake, PER. Clever.

EP. Quo illum ab illa prohibeas:
ne qua ob eam suspicionem difficultas evenat. 290
PER. Quem hominem inveniemus ad eam rem utilem? EP. Hic erit optimus,
hic poterit cavere recte, iura qui et leges tenet.
PER. Epidico habeas gratiam.

EP. So that you may keep him away from her:
lest any difficulty ensue on account of that suspicion. 290
PER. What man shall we find useful for that matter? EP. This one will be best,
this one will be able to take proper precautions, who has the law and the statutes at his command.
PER. Epidicus, you have my gratitude.

EP. Sed ego istuc faciam sedulo:
ego illum conveniam atque adducam hunc ad eum quoiast fidicina,
atque argentum ego cum hoc feram. P. Quanti emi potest minimo? EP. Illane? 295
ad quadraginta fortasse eam posse emi minimo minis.

EP. But I will do that diligently:
I will meet him and bring this fellow to the man to whom the lyre-girl belongs,
and I will carry the silver with him. P. For how little can she be bought? EP. That one? 295
perhaps, at the minimum, she can be bought for about forty minae.

verum si plus dederis, referam, nihil in ea re captiost.
atque id non decem occupatum tibi erit argentum dies.
PER. Quidum?

but if you give more, I will repay; there is nothing captious in that matter.
and your silver will not be tied up for ten days.
PER. How so?

EP. Quia enim mulierem alius illam adulescens deperit,
auro opulentus, magnus miles Rhodius, raptor hostium, 300
gloriosus: is emet illam de te et dabit aurum lubens.
face modo, est lucrum hic tibi amplum. P. Deos quidem oro.

EP. Because indeed another young man is madly in love with that woman,
opulent in gold, a great Rhodian soldier, a captor of enemies, 300
vainglorious: he will buy her from you and will give gold gladly.
only do it, there is ample profit here for you. P. I do indeed pray to the gods.

E. Impetras.
AP. Quin tu is intro atque huic argentum promis? ego visam ad forum.

E. You obtain it.
AP. Why don’t you go inside and promise him the silver? I’ll go to the forum to have a look.

Epidice, eo veni. EP. Ne abitas prius quam ego ad te venero.
A. Vsque opperiar.

Epidicus, come here. EP. Do not go away before I have come to you.
A. I’ll keep waiting.

P. Sequere tu intro. E. I, numera, nil ego te moror. 305

P. You, follow inside. E. Go,
count; I do not delay you at all. 305

II.iii
nullum esse opinor ego agrum in agro Attico
aeque feracem quam hic est noster Periphanes:
quin ex occluso atque obsignato armario
decutio argenti tantum quantum mihi lubet.
quod pol ego metuo si senex resciverit, 310
ne ulmos parasitos faciat, quae usque attondeant.
sed me una turbat res ratioque, Apoecidi
quam ostendam fidicinam aliquam conducticiam.

II.iii
I think there is no field in the Attic land
as fertile as our Periphanes here is:
indeed, from a shut and sealed cabinet
I shake down as much silver as I please.
which, by Pollux, I fear if the old man finds it out, 310
lest he make the parasites into elms, which are clipped continually.
but one thing and my plan troubles me, what hired lyre-girl
I may show to Apoecides.

atque id quoque habeo: mane me iussit senex
conducere aliquam fidicinam sibi huc domum, 315
<quae>, dum rem dinam faceret, cantaret sibi;
ea conducetur atque ei praemonstrabitur
quo pacto fiat subdola adversus senem.
ibo intro, argentum accipiam ab damnoso sene.

and I have that too: in the morning the old man ordered me to hire some lyre‑player for himself here to the house, 315
<who>, while he performed the divine rite, might sing for him;
she will be hired and it will be demonstrated beforehand to her
in what way she may be crafty against the old man.
I’ll go inside; I’ll receive the silver from the ruinous old man.

ACTVS III

ACT 3

III.i
STRATIPPOCLES Expectando exedor miser atque exenteror, 320
quo modo mi Epidici blanda dicta evenant.
nimis diu maceror: sitne quid necne sit,
scire cupio. CHAERIBVLVS Per illam tibi copiam
copiam parare aliam licet: scivi equidem in principio ilico
nullam tibi esse in illo copiam.

III.i
STRATIPPOCLES By waiting I am eaten out and eviscerated, how my Epidicus’s bland words will turn out. 320
I am macerated too long: whether there is anything or there is not,
I wish to know. CHAERIBULUS By that resource for you, you may prepare another resource: I knew indeed right at the beginning straightaway
that you had no resource in that one.

STR. Interii hercle ego.                                        325
CHAER. Absurde facis qui angas te animi; si hercle ego illum semel prendero,
numquam inridere nos illum inultum sinam servom hominem.
CHAER. Quid illum facere vis, qui, tibi quoi divitiae domi maxumae sunt,
is nummum nullum habes neque sodali tuo in te copiast.                                      329-330
CHAER. Si hercle habeam, pollicear lubens, verum aliquid aliqua aliquo modo                331
alicunde ab aliqui aliqua tibi spes est fore meliorem fortunam.
STR. Vae tibi, muricide homo.

STR. By Hercules, I have perished.                                        325
CHAER. You act absurdly, you who torment yourself in spirit; if, by Hercules, I once seize him,
never will I allow that slave-man to mock us unavenged.
CHAER. What do you want that fellow to do, when you—who have the greatest riches at home—
have not a single coin, nor is there any resource in you for your companion.                                      329-330
CHAER. If, by Hercules, I had it, I would promise gladly; but some something somehow                331
from somewhere, from someone, there is some hope for you that your fortune will be better.
STR. Woe to you, mouse-killer man.

CHAER. Qui tibi lubet mihi male loqui?
STR. Quippe tu mi aliquid aliquo modo alicunde ab aliquibus blatis
quod nusquamst neque ego id inmitto in aures meas 335
nec mihi plus adiumenti ~ades, quam ille qui numquam etiam natust.

CHAER. Why does it please you to speak badly to me?
STR. Indeed, you blather to me something somehow from somewhere from some people
which is nowhere, nor do I admit that into my ears 335
nor are you to me of more aid than the one who has not even yet been born.

III.ii
EPIDICVS Fecisti iam officium tuom, me meum nunc facere oportet.
per hanc curam quieto tibi licet esse — hoc quidem iam periit:
ne quid tibi hinc in spem referas, oppido hoc pollinctum est;
crede modo mihi: sic ego ago, sic egerunt nostri. 340
pro di immortales, mihi hunc diem dedistis luculentum,
ut facilem atque impetrabilem! sed ego hinc migrare cesso,
ut importem in coloniam hunc <meo> auspicio commeatum?

3.2
EPIDICVS You have now done your duty; it is fitting that I do mine now.
Through this care you may be at ease — this, at any rate, is now perished:
do not carry back any hope from this; this is thoroughly embalmed;
only believe me: thus I act, thus our people have acted. 340
O immortal gods, you have given me this day luculent,
so facile and impetrable! But do I delay to move from here,
so that I may import into the colony this convoy of provisions under my own auspices?

mihi cesso, cum sto. sed quid hoc? ante aedis duo sodales,
erum et Chaeribulum, conspicor.

I loiter for myself, while I stand. But what’s this? Before the house I espy two comrades,
the master and Chaeribulus.

quid hic agitis? accipe hoc sis. 345
STR. Quantum hic inest? EP. Quantum sat est, et plus satis: superfit.

What are you doing here? take this, please. 345
STR. How much is in here? EP. As much as is enough, and more than enough: there is surplus.

decem minis plus attuli quam tu danistae debes.
dum tibi ego placeam atque obsequar, meum tergum flocci facio.
STR. Nam quid ita?

I have brought ten minae more than you owe the moneylender.
While I may please you and be obsequious, I count my own hide as worth a trifle.
STR. Why so?

EP. Quia ego tuom patrem faciam parenticidam.
STR. Quid istuc est verbi? EP. Nil moror vetera et volgata verba; 350
peratum ductarent: ego follitum ductitabo.

EP. Because I will make your father a parricide.
STR. What is that word? EP. I do not care for old and vulgar words; 350
let them parade the well-worn; I will parade the puffed‑up.

nam leno omne argentum abstulit pro fidicina — ego resolvi,
manibus his denumeravi pater suam natam quam esse credit;
nunc iterum ut fallatur pater tibique auxilium apparetur
inveni: nam ita suasi seni atque hanc habui orationem                                        355
* * *                                                   355a
ut cum rediisses ne tibi eius copia esset. STR. Euge.
* * *                                           356a
(EP.) Ea iam domist pro filia.

for the pander carried off all the silver for the lyre-girl (fidicina) — I paid it off,
with these hands I counted it out—the girl whom her father believes to be his own daughter;
now, that again the father may be deceived and help be prepared for you,
I have found it: for thus I persuaded the old man and held this discourse                                        355
* * *                                                   355a
that, when you had returned, there might not be access for you to her. STR. Bravo.
* * *                                           356a
(EP.) She is now at home in place of a daughter.

STR. <Iam> teneo. EP. Nunc cautorem
dedit mihi ad hanc rem Apoecidem, is apud forum manet me,
[quasique amaret] caveat. STR. Haud male.

STR. <Now> I get it. EP.
Now he has given me Apoecides as a guarantor for this matter; he is waiting for me at the forum,
[let him be on guard as if he were in love]. STR. Not bad.

EP. Iam ipse cautor captust.
ipse in meo collo tuos pater cruminam collocavit; 360
is adornat, adveniens domi extemplo ut maritus fias.
STR. Vno persuadebit modo, si illam, quae adducta est mecum,
mi adempsit Orcus.

EP. Now the guarantor himself has been secured.
he himself has placed your father’s purse on my neck; 360
he is arranging that, when you arrive, you may at once become a husband at home.
STR. He will persuade in one way only, if Orcus has taken from me that girl who was brought with me.

EP. Nunc ego hanc astutiam institui.
deveniam ad lenonem domum egomet solus, eum ego docebo,
si quid ad eum adveniam, ut sibi esse datum argentum dicat 365
pro fidicina, argenti minas se habere quinquaginta —
quippe ego qui nudiustertius meis manibus denumeravi
pro illa tua amica, quam pater suam filiam esse retur —
ibi leno sceleratum caput suom imprudens alligabit,
quasi pro illa argentum acceperit, quae tecum adducta nunc est. 370
CHAER. Vorsutior es quam rota figularis. EP. Iam ego parabo
aliquam dolosam fidicinam, nummo conducta quae sit,
quae se emptam simulet, quae senes duo docte ludificetur.

EP. Now I have instituted this stratagem.
I will come to the pimp’s house myself alone; I will instruct him,
if I come to him at all, to say that money has been given to him 365
for the lyrist, that he has 50 minas of silver —
for I, who but the day before yesterday counted out with my own hands
for that girlfriend of yours, whom your father thinks to be his own daughter —
there the pimp will, unwitting, bind his own criminal head,
as if he had received the silver for the one who has now been brought along with you. 370
CHAER. You are craftier than a potter’s wheel. EP. Now I
will provide some tricky lyrist, hired for a coin,
who will pretend she has been bought, who will cleverly make sport of the two old men.

eam ducet simul Apoecides ad tuom patrem. STR. Vt parate.
EP. Eam permeditatam, meis dolis astutiisque onustam 375
mittam.

he will conduct her at the same time, Apoecides, to your father. STR. How well-prepared.
EP. I will send her thoroughly rehearsed, laden with my tricks and astuteness 375
I will send her.

sed nimis longum loquor, diu me estis demorati.
haec scitis iam ut futura sint. abeo.

But I am talking too long; you have delayed me for a long time.
You already know how these things are going to be. I depart.

STR. Bene ambulato.
CHAER. Nimis doctus ille <est> ad male faciendum. STR. Me equidem certo
servavit consiliis suis.

STR. Fare well.
CHAER. He is too learned for doing evil. STR. Indeed, for my part, he certainly has saved me
by his counsels.

CHAER. Abeamus intro hinc ad me.
STR. Atque aliquanto lubentius quam abs te sum egressus intus; 380
virtute atque auspicio Epidici cum praeda in castra redeo.

CHAER. Let us go in from here to my place.
STR. And a good deal more gladly than I went out from you from indoors; 380
by the virtue and auspices of Epidicus I return to camp with booty.

III.iii
PERIPHANES Non oris causa modo homines aequom fuit
sibi habere speculum, ubi os contemplarent suom,
sed qui perspicere possent cor sapientiae,
[igitur perspicere ut possent cordis copiam] 385
ubi id inspexissent, cogitarent postea,
vitam ut vixissent olim in adulescentia.
vel ego, qui dudum fili causa coeperam
ego med excruciare animi, quasi quid filius
meus deliquisset me erga aut quasi non plurima 390
male facta mea essent solida in adulescentia.
profecto deliramus interdum senes.

3.3
PERIPHANES Not only for the sake of the face was it equitable for men
to have a mirror for themselves, where they might contemplate their own face,
but that they might perspicuously see the heart of sapience,
[therefore, so that they might be able to perceive the abundance of the heart] 385
when they had inspected that, they might consider thereafter,
how they had lived their life once in adolescence.
or I, who a short while ago for my son’s sake had begun
to excruciate myself in mind, as if my son
had done any wrong toward me, or as if not very many 390
misdeeds of mine had been solid in adolescence.
indeed we old men sometimes are delirious.

[fuit conducibile hoc quidem mea sententia.]
sed meus sodalis it cum praeda Apoecides.
venire salvom mercatorem gaudeo. 395
quid fit? APOECIDES Di deaeque te adiuvant.

[this indeed was profitable, in my opinion.]
but my comrade Apoecides goes with the booty.
I am glad that the merchant has come safe and sound. 395
what’s happening? APOECIDES May the gods and goddesses help you.

PER. Omen placet.
AP. Quin omini omnes suppetunt res prospere.
sed tu hanc iube sis intro abduci.

PER. The omen pleases me.
AP. Nay, all things answer the omen prosperously.
but you, please, order that she be led inside.

PER. Heus, foras
exite huc aliquis. duce istam intro mulierem.
atque audin?

PER. Hey, out!
come out here, someone. lead that woman inside.
and do you hear?

SERVVS Quid vis? PER. Cave siris cum filia 400
mea copulari hanc neque conspicere. iam tenes?

SERVVS What do you want? PER. Mind you do not allow this woman to be coupled with my daughter, 400
nor even to behold her. Do you grasp now?

in aediculam istanc sorsum concludi volo.
divortunt mores virgini longe ac lupae.
AP. Docte et sapienter dicis.

into that little chamber I want her to be shut in separately.
the mores of a virgin and of a she-wolf are far apart.
AP. Learnedly and wisely you speak.

~ num nimis potest
pudicitiam quisquam suae servare filiae. 405
edepol ne istam temperi gnato tuo
sumus praemercati. PER. Quid iam? AP. Quia dixit mihi
iam dudum se alius tuom vidisse hic filium:
hanc edepol rem apparabat.

~ can anyone preserve his own daughter’s pudicity too much?
by Pollux, indeed, we have pre-bought that one seasonably for your son. 405
PER. What now? AP. Because she told me some while ago that here another had seen your son:
by Pollux, she was preparing this business.

PER. Planum hercle hoc quidem est.
AP. Ne tu habes servom graphicum et quantivis preti, 410
non carust auro contra. ut ille fidicinam
fecit <sese ut> nesciret esse emptam tibi!

PER. By Hercules, this indeed is plain.
AP. Why, you’ve got a graphic servant, and worth whatever price, 410
not costly even set against gold. How he contrived that the lyre-girl
should not know she had been bought for you!

ita ridibundam atque hilaram huc adduxit simul.
PER. Mirum hoc qui potuit fieri. AP. Te pro filio
facturum dixit rem esse divinam domi, 415
quia Thebis salvos redierit.

so he brought her here laughing and cheerful at once.
PER. A marvel—how could this have been done? AP. He said that you, on behalf of your son,
would perform a divine rite at home, 415
because he has returned safe from Thebes.

PER. Rectam institit.
AP. Immo ipsus illi dixit conductam esse eam,
quae hic administraret ad rem divinam tibi.
[facturum hoc dixit rem esse divinam tibi domi]
ego illic me autem sic assimulabam: quasi 420
stolidum, combardum me faciebam.

PER. She stuck straight to it.
AP. Nay rather, he himself told her that she was hired,
to administer here the divine rite for you.
[he said he would do this: that there would be a divine rite for you at home]
I there, however, was simulating myself thus: as if 420
I was making myself stolid, a blockhead.

PER. Em istuc decet.
AP. Res magna amici apud forum agitur, ei volo
ire advocatus. PER. At quaeso, ubi erit otium,
revortere ad me extemplo.

PER. There, that is proper.
AP. A great matter of a friend is being conducted at the forum; I want to go there as his advocate. PER. But, I pray, when you have leisure, return to me immediately.

AP. Continuo hic ero.
PER. Nihil homini amicost opportuno amicius: 425
sine tuo labore quod velis actumst tamen.
ego si allegavissem aliquem ad hoc negotium
minus hominem doctum minusque ad hanc rem callidum,
os sublitum esset, itaque me albis dentibus
meus derideret filius meritissumo.

AP. I will be here immediately.
PER. Nothing is friendlier to a man than an opportune friend: 425
without your labor what you want has nevertheless been done.
If I had deputed someone to this business,
a man less learned and less clever for this matter,
my face would have been smeared, and so with white teeth
my son would laugh at me, most deservedly.

430
sed quis hic est quem <ego> huc advenientem conspicor, 435
suam qui undantem chlamydem quassando facit?

430
but who is this whom <I> descry coming here, 435
who by shaking makes his own cloak undulate?

III.iv
MILES Cave praeterbitas ullas aedis, quin roges,
senex hic ubi habitat Periphanes Platenius.
incertus tuom cave ad me rettuleris pedem.
PER. Adulescens, si istunc hominem, quem tu quaeritas, 440
tibi commonstrasso, ecquam abs te inibo gratiam?

3.4
MILES Make sure you do not pass by any houses without asking,
where the old man Periphanes the Plataean lives.
take care you do not return to me unsure.
PER. Young man, if I point out to you that man whom you are seeking, 440
will I gain any favor from you?

MIL. Virtute belli armatus promerui, ut mihi
omnis mortalis agere deceat gratias.
PER. Non repperisti, adulescens, tranquillum locum,
ubi tuas virtutes explices, ut postulas. 445
nam strenuiori deterior si praedicat
suas pugnas, de illius illae fiunt sordidae.
sed istum quem quaeris Periphanem Platenium,
ego sum, si quid vis.

MIL. Armed by the valor of war, I have merited that every mortal ought to render thanks to me.
PER. You have not found, young man, a tranquil place where to expound your virtues, as you demand. 445
for if an inferior proclaims his battles to a more strenuous man, those become sordid in comparison with that man’s.
but that Periphanes Platenius whom you seek, I am he, if you want anything.

MIL. Nempe quem in adulescentia
memorant apud reges armis, arte duellica 450
divitias magnas indeptum? PER. Immo si audias
meas pugnas, fugias manibus dimissis domum.
MIL. Pol ego magis unum quaero, meas cui praedicem,
quam illum qui memoret suas mihi.

MIL. Surely the one whom in adolescence
they commemorate among kings for arms, by the art of dueling, 450
having obtained great riches from that? PER. Nay, if you were to hear
my battles, you would flee home with your hands let down.
MIL. By Pollux, I for my part seek rather one to whom I may proclaim my own exploits,
than that fellow who recounts his own to me.

PER. Hic non est locus;
proin tu alium quaeras cui centones sarcias.                           455
atque haec stultitiast me illi vitio vortere                                              431
egomet quod factitavi in adulescentia,
cum militabam: pugnis memorandis meis
eradicabam hominum auris, quando occeperam.
MIL. Animum advorte, ut quod ego ad te advenio intellegas.        456
meam amicam audivi te esse mercatum. PER. Attatae,
nunc demum scio ego hunc qui sit: quem dudum Epidicus
mihi praedicavit militem.

PER. This is not the place;
therefore you should seek another to whom you may stitch centos.                           455
and this is foolishness, to turn it as a fault to that man                                              431
that I myself used to do in my adolescence,
when I was soldiering: with my battles worth remembering
I used to eradicate men’s ears whenever I began.
MIL. Turn your mind, so that you may understand why I come to you.        456
I heard that you have bought my girlfriend. PER. Attatae,
now at last I know who this fellow is: the soldier whom a little while ago Epidicus
announced to me.

adulescens, itast
ut dicis, emi. MIL. Volo te verbis pauculis, 460
si tibi molestum non est. PER. Non edepol scio,
molestum necne sit, nisi dicis quid velis.

adolescent, it is so
as you say, I bought (her). MIL. I want a few words with you, 460
if it is not troublesome to you. PER. By Pollux, I do not know,
whether it is troublesome or not, unless you say what you want.

MIL. Mi illam ut tramittas, argentum accipias: adest.
nam quid ego apud te vera parcam proloqui?
ego illam volo hodie facere libertam meam, 465
mihi concubina quae sit.

MIL. My good sir, that you send her over, take the silver: it is here.
for why should I refrain from speaking truths in your presence?
I want today to make her my freedwoman, 465
to be my concubine.

PER. Te absolvam brevi:
argenti quinquaginta mi illa empta est minis;
si sexaginta mihi denumerantur minae,
tuas possidebit mulier faxo ferias;
atque ita profecto, ut eam ex hoc exoneres agro. 470
MIL. Estne empta mi istis legibus? PER. Habeas licet.
MIL. Conciliavisti pulchre.

PER. I’ll settle you briefly:
that girl was bought for me for fifty minas of silver;
if sixty minas are counted out to me,
I’ll see to it the woman shall possess your holidays;
and indeed on this condition, that you discharge her from this field. 470
MIL. Is she bought for me on those terms? PER. You may have her.
MIL. You have conciliated me finely.

PER. Heus, foras educite
quam introduxistis fidicinam. atque etiam fides,
ei quae accessere, tibi addam dono gratiis.
age accipe hanc sis.

PER. Hey, bring outside
the lyre-player whom you brought in. And even the strings,
those which have come along with her, I will add to you as a gratis gift.
come on, take this, please.

MIL. Quae te intemperiae tenent? 475
quas tu mihi tenebras trudis? quin tu fidicinam
produci intus iubes. PER. Haec ergo est fidicina.

MIL. What fits of intemperance hold you? 475
what darkness are you thrusting upon me? Why don’t you order the lyre-girl
to be brought out from inside? PER. So then this is the lyre-girl.

hic alia nullast. MIL. Non mihi nugari potes.
quin tu huc producis fidicinam Acropolistidem?

here there is no other. MIL. You cannot trifle with me.
why don’t you bring out here the lyre-player Acropolistis?

PER. Haec inquamst. MIL. Non haec inquamst. non novisse me 480
meam rere amicam posse?

PER. This is she, I say. MIL. Not this is she, I say. Do you suppose
that I cannot know my own girlfriend? 480

PER. Hanc, inquam, filius
meus deperibat fidicinam. MIL. Haec non est ea.
P. Quid? non est?

PER. This one, I say, my son
was desperately in love with—the lyre-player. MIL. This is not she.
P. What? Not her?

M. Non est. P. Vnde haec igitur gentiumst?
equidem hercle argentum pro hac dedi.

M. She is not. P. Whence, then, in the world is she?
for my part, by Hercules, I gave silver for this one.

MIL. Stulte datum
reor et peccatum largiter. PER. Immo haec east. 485
nam servom misi, qui illum sectari solet
meum gnatum: is ipse hanc destinavit fidicinam.
MIL. Em istic homo te articulatim concidit, senex,
tuos servos.

MIL. I reckon it was foolishly given and a sin largely. PER. No, this is she. 485
for I sent a slave who is accustomed to shadow my son: he himself designated this lyre-girl. MIL. See, that fellow there has cut you up joint by joint, old man—your slaves.

PER. Quid? concidit? MIL. Sic suspiciost,
nam pro fidicina haec cerva supposita est tibi. 490
senex, tibi os est sublitum plane et probe.

PER. What? cut them down? MIL. So I suspect,
for instead of the lyre-girl this hind has been foisted on you. 490
old man, your face has been neatly and thoroughly plastered.

ego illam requiram iam ubi ubi est. PER. Bellator, vale.
euge, euge, Epidice, frugi es, pugnavisti, homo es,
qui me emunxisti mucidum, minimi preti.

I will seek her now wherever she is. PER. Warrior, farewell.
bravo, bravo, Epidicus, you are frugal, you have fought, you are a man,
who have wiped my nose—me, moldy and of the least worth.

mercatus te hodie est de lenone Apoecides? 495
FIDICINA Fando ego istunc hominem numquam audivi ante hunc diem,
neque me quidem emere quisquam ulla pecunia
potuit: plus iam sum libera quinquennium.
PER. Quid tibi negotist meae domi igitur? FID. Audies.

Has Apoecides today purchased you from the pimp? 495
FIDICINA By report I had never heard that man before this day,
nor indeed could anyone buy me for any amount of money:
I have been free now for more than five years.
PER. What business have you, then, at my house? FID. You will hear.

conducta veni, ut fidibus cantarem seni, 500
dum rem divinam faceret. PER. Fateor me omnium
hominum esse Athenis Atticis minimi preti.
sed tu novistin fidicinam Acropolistidem?

hired I came, to sing with the lyre for the old man, 500
while he was performing the divine rite. PER. I confess that I am, of all men in Attic Athens, of the least price.
but do you know the lyre-girl from the Acropolis?

F. Tam facile quam me. P. Vbi habitat? F. Postquam liberast
ubi habitet dicere admodum incerte scio. 505
PE. Eho an libera illa est? quis eam liberaverit,
volo scire, si scis.

F. As easily as myself. P. Where does she dwell? F. Since she was liberated,
where she dwells I know to say very uncertainly. 505
PE. Hey, is she free? who may have liberated her,
I want to know, if you know.

FID. Id quod audivi audies.
Stratippoclem aiunt Periphanai filium
absentem curavisse ut fieret libera.
PER. Perii hercle, si istaec vera sunt; planissume 510
meum exenteravit Epidicus marsuppium.

FID. What I’ve heard, you shall hear.
They say that Stratippocles, son of Periphanes,
though absent, took care that she be made free.
PER. I’m done for, by Hercules, if that’s true; most plainly 510
Epidicus has exenterated my purse.

FID. Haec sic audivi. numquid me vis ceterum?
PER. Malo cruciatu ut pereas atque abeas cito.

FID. I have heard these things thus. do you want anything further of me?
PER. May you perish with a cruel cruciation and be off quickly.

FID. Fides non reddis? PER. Neque fides neque tibias.
propera igitur fugere hinc, si te di amant.

FID. Won’t you give back good faith? PER. Neither faith nor pipes.
Make haste, then, to flee from here, if the gods love you.

FID. Abiero. 515
flagitio cum maiore post reddes tamen.
PER. Quid nunc? qui in tantis positus sum sententiis, ~
[eamne ego sinam impune?

FID. I’ll be off. 515
you will, however, render it back afterward with a greater penalty.
PER. What now? I, who am placed under such great sentences, ~
[am I to allow that with impunity?

immo etiam si alterum
tantum perdundumst, perdam potius quam sinam
me impune irrisum esse, habitum depeculatui] 520
ei sic data esse verba praesenti palam!
atque me minoris facio prae illo, qui omnium
legum atque iurum fictor, conditor cluet;
is etiam sese sapere memorat: malleum
sapientiorem vidi excusso manubrio. 525

nay, even if as much again must be lost,
I would rather lose it than allow
myself to have been mocked with impunity, held for peculation] 520
that he was thus put off with words, with me present, openly!
and I set myself at a lower value compared with that fellow, who is reputed
the fashioner and founder of all laws and rights;
he even claims that he is wise: I have seen a hammer
wiser, its handle shaken off. 525

ACTVS IV<

ACT 4<

IV.i
PHILIPPA Si quid est homini miseriarum quod miserescat, miser ex animost.
id ego experior, cui multa in unum locum
confluont, quae meum pectus pulsant simul:
multiplex aerumna me exercitam habet,
paupertas, pavor territat mentem animi, 530
neque ubi meas spes collocem habeo usquam munitum locum.
ita gnata mea hostiumst potita, neque ea nunc ubi sit scio.

4.1
PHILIPPA If there is anything in a man’s miseries to be pitied, he is wretched at heart.
That I am experiencing, upon whom many things confluent into one place,
which strike my breast all at once:
manifold affliction keeps me hard-pressed,
poverty, panic terrifies the mind of my spirit, 530
nor do I have anywhere a fortified place where I might place my hopes.
thus my daughter has been taken by the enemy, nor do I know where she is now.

PER. Quis illaec est mulier, timido pectore peregre adveniens
quae ipsa se miseratur? PHIL. In his dictust locis habitare mihi
Periphanes. PER. Me nominat haec; credo ego illi hospitio usus venit. 535
PHIL. Pervelim mercedem dare, qui monstret eum mihi hominem aut ubi habitet.

PER. Who is that woman, arriving from abroad with a timid breast, who pities herself?
PHIL. I have been told that in these places Periphanes dwells for me.
PER. She names me; I believe she has come in need of hospitality. 535
PHIL. I would very much like to give a reward to whoever would show that man to me or where he dwells.

PER. Noscito ego hanc, nam videor nescio ubi mi vidisse prius.
estne ea an non east quam animus retur meus?
PHIL. Di boni, visitavi * * * antidhac?

PER. I recognize this one, for I seem—I know not where—to have seen her before.
Is she, or is she not, the one whom my mind deems?
PHIL. Good gods, have I visited * * * before now?

PER. Certo east * * * quam in Epidauro pauperculam memini comprimere. 540
PHIL. Plane hicine est, qui mihi in Epidauro primus pudicitiam pepulit.
PER. Quae meo compressu peperit filiam quam domi nunc habeo.
quid si adeam — PHIL. Hau scio an congrediar — PER. Si haec east.

PER. Surely she is * * * whom in Epidaurus I remember to have pressed, a poor little woman. 540
PHIL. Clearly this here is the one who in Epidaurus first drove off my pudicity.
PER. She who by my pressing bore a daughter whom I now have at home.
what if I approach — PHIL. I don’t know whether I should engage — PER. If this is she.

PHIL.
                                Si is est homo, sicut
anni multi dubia dant.
PER. Longa dies meum incertat animum. sin east quam incerte autumo,                        545
hanc congrediar astu.                           545a
PHIL. Muliebris adhibenda mihi malitia nunc est.

PHIL.
                                If he is the man, as
many years give doubt.
PER. A long time makes my mind uncertain. But if this is she, whom I so uncertainly suppose,                        545
I will meet her with astuteness.                           545a
PHIL. Womanly malice must now be employed by me.

PER. Compellabo. PHIL. Orationis aciem contra conferam.
PER. Salva sis.

PER. I will accost. PHIL. I will bring the edge of oration against him.
PER. May you be safe.

PHIL. Salutem accipio mi et meis. PER. Quid ceterum?
PHIL. Salvos sis: quod credidisti reddo.

PHIL. I accept the salutation for me and mine. PER. What else?
PHIL. May you be safe: I give back what you entrusted.

PER. Haud accuso fidem.
novin ego te? PHIL. Si ego te novi, animum inducam, ut tu noveris. 550
PER. Vbi te visitavi? PHIL. Inique iniuriu's. PER. Quid iam?

PER. I do not at all accuse your faith.
Do I know you? PHIL. If I know you, I will bring my mind to it, that you may know me. 550
PER. Where did I visit you? PHIL. You are unfair; you do me wrong. PER. What now?

PHIL. Quia
tuae memoriae interpretari me aequom censes. PER. Commode
fabulata es. PH. Mira memoras. <P. Te memini >— PH. Em istuc rectius.

PHIL. Because
you deem it fair that I interpret for your memory. PER. Aptly
you’ve told the tale. PH. You mention marvels. <P. I remember you >— PH. There, that’s more correct.

P. Meministin — PH. Memini id quod memini. P. At in Epidauro — PH. Ah, guttula
pectus ardens mi aspersisti. PER. Virgini pauperculae, 555
tuaeque matri me levare paupertatem?

P. Do you remember — PH. I remember what I remember. P. But at Epidaurus — PH. Ah, with a little drop
you sprinkled my burning breast. PER. For the poor little maiden, 555
and for your mother, that I should lighten poverty?

PHIL. Tun is es,
qui per voluptatem tuam in me aerumnam obsevisti gravem?
PER. Ego sum. salve.

PHIL. Are you that one,
who, through your voluptuousness, have sown a grave hardship upon me?
PER. I am. Greetings.

PHIL. Salva sum, quia te esse salvom sentio.
PER. Cedo manum. PHIL. Accipe.

PHIL. I am safe, because I sense you to be safe.
PER. Give me your hand. PHIL. Take it.

aerumnosam et miseriarum compotem
mulierem retines. PER. Quid est quod voltus turbatust tuos? 560
PHIL. Filiam quam ex te suscepi — PER. Quid eam? PHIL. Eductam perdidi.

you keep a woman laden with troubles and possessed of miseries.
PER. What is it, that your countenance is troubled? 560
PHIL. The daughter whom I had by you — PER. What about her? PHIL. Having reared her, I have lost her.

hostium est potita. PER. Habe animum lenem et tranquillum. tace.

she has fallen into the enemies’ hands. PER. Have a gentle and tranquil spirit. be silent.

domi meae eccam salvam et sanam. nam postquam audivi ilico
ex meo servo, illam esse captam, continuo argentum dedi,
ut emeretur. ille eam rem adeo sobrie et frugaliter 565
accuravit, ut<ut > ad alias res est impense inprobus.

at my house—see!—she is safe and sound. For after I straightway heard from my slave that she had been captured, I immediately gave silver, that she might be ransomed. He managed that matter so soberly and frugally 565
that<that > as to other affairs he is exceedingly unscrupulous.

PHIL. Fac videam, si mea, si salva <mihi sit>. PE. Eho, istinc, Canthara,
iube Telestidem huc prodire filiam ante aedis meam,
ut suam videat matrem. PHIL. Remigrat animus nunc demum mihi.

PHIL. Make it so I may see, whether she is mine, whether safe <for me be>. PE.
Hey, you there, Canthara,
order Telestis, the daughter, to come forth here in front of my house,
that she may see her own mother. PHIL. Now at last my spirit returns to me.

IV.ii
ACROPOLISTIS Quid est, pater, quod me excivisti ante aedis? PER. Vt 570
matrem tuam
videas, adeas, advenienti des salutem atque osculum.
ACR. Quam meam matrem?

4.2
ACROPOLISTIS What is it, father, that you have called me out in front of the house for? PER. So that 570
your mother
you may see, go to her, and, as she arrives, give her a salutation and a kiss.
ACR. Which mother of mine?

PER. Quae exanimata exsequitur aspectum tuom.
PHIL. Quis istaec est quam tu osculum mihi ferre iubes? PER. Tua filia.

PER. Who, breathless, pursues your aspect.
PHIL. Who is this that you bid to bring me a kiss? PER. Your daughter.

PHIL. Haecine? PER. Haec. PHIL. Egone osculum huic dem?

PHIL. This one? PER. This one. PHIL. I? Am I to give a kiss
to this one?

PER. Quor
non, quae ex te nata sit?
PHIL. Tu homo insanis. PER. Egone?

PER. Why
not, the one who was born from you?
PHIL. You, man, are insane. PER. I?

PHIL. Tune. PER. Quor? PHIL. 575
Quia ego hanc quae siet
neque scio neque novi, neque ego hanc oculis vidi ante hunc diem.

PHIL. You? PER. Why? PHIL. 575
Because, as for this one—who she is—
I neither know nor recognize, nor have I seen her with my eyes before this day.

PER. Scio quid erres: quia vestitum atque ornatum immutabilem
habet haec, * * *
PH. * * * aliter catuli longe olent, aliter suis.
ne ego eam novisse * PER. Pro deum atque hominum fidem, 580
quid? ego lenocinium facio, qui habeam alienos domi
atque argentum egurgitem domo prosus?

PER. I know why you go astray: because she has a garb and adornment immutable, * * *
PH. * * * whelps smell one way, swine another. why, indeed I have known her * PER. By the faith of gods and men, 580
what? am I doing pandering, that I should have others’ people at home and spew out silver straight from my house?

quid tu, quae patrem
tuom vocas me atque osculare, quid stas stupida? quid taces?
ACR. Quid loquar vis?

what about you, you who call me your father and kiss me, why do you stand stupefied? why are you silent?
ACR. What do you want me to say?

PER. Haec negat se tuam esse matrem. ACR. Ne fuat,
si non volt: equidem hac invita tamen ero matris filia; 585
non med istanc cogere aequom est meam esse matrem, si nevolt.
PER. Cur me igitur patrem vocabas?

PER. She denies that she is your mother. ACR. Let her not be,
if she does not wish: for my part, even with this one unwilling, I shall still be a daughter of a mother; 585
it is not equitable for me to coerce that woman to be my mother, if she is unwilling.
PER. Why then were you calling me father?

ACR. Tua istaec culpast, non mea.
non patrem ego te nominem, ubi tu tuam me appellas filiam?
hanc quoque etiam, si me appellet filiam, matrem vocem.

ACR. That fault is yours, not mine.
Should I not call you father, when you call me your daughter?
This woman too, if she should call me daughter, I would call mother.

negat haec filiam me suam esse: non ergo haec mater mea est. 590
postremo haec mea culpa non est: quae didici dixi omnia;
Epidicus mihi fuit magister. PER. Perii, plaustrum perculi.
ACR. Numquid ego ibi, pater, peccavi?

she denies that I am her daughter: therefore this woman is not my mother. 590
in the end, this is not my fault: everything that I learned I said;
Epidicus was my teacher. PER. I’m undone—I’ve wrecked a whole cartload.
ACR. Have I sinned at all there, father?

PER. Si hercle te umquam audivero
me patrem vocare, vitam tuam ego interimam. ACR. Non voco.
ubi voles pater esse, ibi esto; ubi noles, ne fueris pater. 595
PHIL. Quid, <si> ob eam rem hanc emisti, quia tuam gnatam es ratus,
quibus de signis agnoscebas?

PER. By Hercules
if ever I hear you
call me father, I will take your life. ACR. I do not call you.
where you wish to be father, be so; where you do not wish, do not be father. 595
PHIL. What? if for that reason you bought this one, because you supposed her your daughter,
from what signs did you recognize her?

PER. Nullis. PHIL. Qua re filiam
credidisti nostram? PER. Servos Epidicus dixit mihi.

PER. By none. PHIL. For what reason
daughter
did you believe was ours? PER. The slave Epidicus told me.

PHIL. Quid si servo aliter visumst, non poteras novisse, obsecro? ~
PER. Quid ego, qui illam ut primum vidi, numquam vidi postea? 600
PHIL. Perii misera. PER. Ne fle, mulier.

PHIL. What if it seemed otherwise to the slave—could you not have found it out, I beg? ~
PER. What could I do—I who, when I first saw her, never saw her afterward? 600
PHIL. I am undone, poor wretch. PER. Do not weep, woman.

intro abi, habe animum bonum;
ego illam reperiam. PHIL. Hinc Athenis civis eam emit Atticus:
adulescentem equidem dicebant emisse. PER. Inveniam, tace.

go inside, keep up a good spirit;
I will find her. PHIL. From here at Athens a citizen, an Attic, bought her:
indeed they were saying that a young man had bought her. PER. I will find her, hush.

abi modo intro atque hanc asserva Circam Solis filiam.
ego relictis rebus Epidicum operam quaerendo dabo: 605
si invenio, exitiabilem ego illi faciam hunc ut fiat diem.

go now inside and guard this girl, Circe, the daughter of the Sun.
I, with other matters left aside, will give my effort to searching for Epidicus: 605
if I find him, I will make this day become ruinous for him.

ACTVS V

ACT 5

V.i
STRATIPPOCLES Male morigerus mi est danista, qui a me argentum non petit
neque illam adducit quae <empta> ex praedast. sed eccum incedit Epidicus.
quid illuc est quod illi caperrat frons severitudine?

5.1
STRATIPPOCLES My moneylender is ill-obliging to me, who does not ask silver from me
nor does he bring that woman who is <empta> out of the booty. But look, here comes Epidicus.
what is that, that his brow is puckered with severity?

EPIDICVS Si undecim deos praeter sese secum adducat Iuppiter, 610
ita non omnes ex cruciatu poterunt eximere Epidicum.
Periphanem emere lora vidi, ibi aderat una Apoecides;
nunc homines me quaeritare credo. senserunt, sciunt
sibi data esse verba.

EPIDICVS If Jupiter should bring along with him eleven gods besides himself, 610
even so not all of them could remove Epidicus from torment.
I saw Periphanes buying straps, Apoecides was there together;
now I believe the men are searching for me. They have perceived it, they know
that words have been given to them.

STR. Quid agis, mea commoditas? EP. Quod miser.
STR. Quid est tibi?

STR. What are you doing, my convenience? EP. What a wretch does.
STR. What is the matter with you?

EP. Quin tu mi adornas ad fugam viaticum, 615
prius quam pereo? nam per urbem duo defloccati senes
quaeritant me, in manibus gestant copulas secum simul.
STR. Habe bonum animum.

EP. Why don’t you get me a viaticum for flight, 615
before I perish? For through the city two threadbare old men
are seeking me; in their hands they carry shackles along with them as well. STR. Take good courage.

EP. Quippe ego quoi libertas in mundo sitast.
STR. Ego te servabo. EP. Edepol me illi melius, si nacti fuant.

EP. For indeed I, for whom freedom
is all in readiness.
STR. I will keep you. EP. By Pollux, those will keep me better, if they should get hold of me.

sed quis haec est muliercula et ille gravastellus qui venit? 620
STR. Hic est danista, haec illa est autem, quam emi de praeda. EP. Haecinest?
STR. Haec est.

but who is this little woman and that heavy-lug who is coming? 620
STR. He is the moneylender, and this is that one, whom I bought from the booty. EP. Is this she?
STR. She it is.

estne ita ut tibi dixi? aspecta et contempla, Epidice:
usque ab unguiculo ad capillum summumst festivissuma.
estne consimilis quasi cum signum pictum pulchre aspexeris?

Is it as I told you? Look and contemplate, Epidicus:
all the way from little fingernail to the topmost hair she is most charming.
Is she similar, as when you have looked at a beautifully painted image?

EP. Ex tuis verbis meum futurum corium pulchrum praedicas, 625
quem Apella atque Zeuxis duo pingent pigmentis ulmeis.
STR. Di immortales, sicin iussi ad me ires? pedibus ~ pulmunes
qui perhibetur prius venisset quam tu advenisti mihi.

EP. From your words you proclaim that my future hide will be fair, which Apelles and Zeuxis, the two, will paint with elm pigments. 625
STR. Immortal gods, was it thus I ordered you to come to me? The one who is said to have lungs in his feet would have arrived before you came to me.

DANISTA Haec edepol remorata med est. STR. Siquidem istius gratia
id remoratu's quod ista voluit, nimium advenisti cito. 630
DAN. Age age, absolve <me> atque argentum numera, ne comites morer.
ST. Pernumeratumst.

DANISTA By Pollux, this has kept me back. STR. Since for that one’s sake
you were delayed as much as she wished, you have arrived too quickly. 630
DAN. Come, come, release <me> and count out the silver, lest I delay my companions.
ST. It has been counted in full.

DA.Tene cruminam: huc inde. ST. Sapienter venis.
opperire, dum effero ad te argentum.

DA.Hold the purse: this way, from here. ST. You come wisely.
Wait, while I bring out the silver to you.

DAN. Matura. STR. Domist.
EP. Satin ego oculis utilitatem optineo sincere an parum?

DAN. Hurry. STR. It is at home.
EP. Do I obtain utility with my eyes sincerely, or too little?

videon ego Telestidem te, Periphanai filiam, 635
ex Philippa matre natam Thebis, Epidauri satam?
TELESTIS Quis tu homo es, qui meum parentum nomen memoras et meum?
EP. Non me nosti?

Do I see you, Telestis, daughter of Periphanes, 635
born from the mother Philippa at Thebes, sprung from Epidaurus?
TELESTIS Who are you, man, who recall my parents’ name and my own?
EP. Do you not know me?

TEL. Quod quidem nunc veniat in mentem mihi.
EP. Non meministi me auream ad te afferre natali die
lunulam atque anellum aureolum in digitum? TEL. Memini, mi homo. 640
tune is es? EP. Ego sum, et istic frater, qui te mercatust, tuos.

TEL. That indeed now comes to my mind for me.
EP. Do you not remember me bringing to you on your natal day a golden lunula and a little golden ring for your finger? TEL. I remember, my man. 640
are you that one? EP. I am, and that brother there, who purchased you, your owner.

* * * alia matre, uno patre.
TEL. Quid pater meus? vivit?

* * * by another mother, one father.
TEL. What of my father? Is he alive?

EP. Animo liquido et tranquillo es, tace.
TEL. Di me ex perdita servatam cupiunt, si vera autumas.
EP. Non habeo ullam occasionem, ut apud te falsa fabuler. 645
STRATIPPOCLES Accipe argentum hoc, danista.

EP. With a clear and tranquil mind, be silent.
TEL. The gods desire me saved out of perdition, if you aver the truth.
EP. I have no occasion to tell false fables before you. 645
STRATIPPOCLES Receive this silver, moneylender.

hic sunt quadraginta minae.
siquid erit dubium, immutabo. DAN. Bene fecisti, bene vale.

here are forty minas.
if anything shall be doubtful, I will alter it. DAN. You have done well; fare well.

STR. Nunc enim tu mea es. TEL. Soror quidem edepol, ut tu aeque scias.
salve, frater. STR. Sanan haec est?

STR. For now indeed you are mine. TEL. A sister indeed, by Pollux, so that you may know as well.
greetings, brother. STR. Is she sane?

EP. Sana, si appellat suom.
S. Quid? ego modo <amator sum> huic frater factus, dum intro eo atque exeo? 650
EP. Quod boni est id tacitus taceas tute tecum et gaudeas.

EP. Sane, if she calls him her own.
S. What? I just now <I am her lover> have become this woman’s brother, while I go in and go out? 650
EP. Whatever good there is, keep it quiet to yourself, and rejoice.

STR. Perdidisti et repperisti me, soror. EP. Stultu's, tace.
tibi quidem quod ames domi praestost, fidicina, opera mea;
et sororem in libertatem idem opera concilio mea.

STR. You have lost and re-found me, sister. EP. You’re a fool, be silent.
for you indeed what you may love is at home at hand—a minstrel-girl—by my effort;
and the sister likewise, into liberty I, by the same effort and counsel, arrange.

STR. Epidice, fateor — EP. Abi intro ac iube huic aquam calefieri; 655
cetera haec posterius faxo scibis, ubi erit otium.
STR. Sequere hac me, soror. EP. Ego ad vos THESPRIO nem iussero
huc transire.

STR. Epidicus, I confess— EP. Go inside and bid that water be heated for her; 655
the rest of these things I will see to it you know later, when there will be leisure.
STR. Follow me this way, sister. EP. I will order THESPRIO to cross over here to you.

sed memento, si quid saevibunt senes,
suppetias mihi cum sorore ferre. STR. Facile istuc erit.
EP. THESPRIO, exi istac per hortum, adfer domum auxilium mihi, 660
magnast res.

but remember, if the old men grow savage at all,
to bring succor to me together with my sister. STR. That will be easy.
EP. THESPRIO, go out that way through the garden, bring help home to me, 660
it is a great matter.

minoris multo facio quam dudum senes.
remeabo intro, ut accurentur advenientes hospites.
eadem haec intus edocebo quae ego scio Stratippoclem.

I make far less account of the old men than a little while ago.
I will re-enter, so that the arriving guests may be attended to.
I will likewise instruct inside Stratippocles in these same things that I know.

non fugio, domi adesse certumst; neque ille haud obiciet mihi
pedibus sese provocatum. abeo intro, nimis longum loquor. 665

I do not flee; it’s certain I’ll be present at home; nor will he at all throw himself at me, provoked to a fight on foot.
I’m going inside; I talk too long. 665

V.ii
PERIPHANES Satine illic homo ludibrio nos vetulos decrepitos duos
habet? APOECIDES Immo edepol tu quidem miserum med habes miseris modis.
PER. Tace sis, modo sine me hominem apisci.

5.2
PERIPHANES Does that fellow there really have us two decrepit old men for a laughing-stock?
APOECIDES Nay, by Pollux, you indeed have me miserable, in miserable ways.
PER. Be silent, please; only let me get hold of the man.

AP. Dico ego tibi iam, ut scias:
alium tibi te comitem meliust quaerere; ita, dum te sequor,
lassitudine invaserunt misero in genua flemina. 670
PER. Quot illic homo hodie me exemplis ludificatust atque te,
ut illic autem exenteravit mihi opes argentarias!
AP. Apage illum a me, nam ille quidem Volcani iratist filius:
quaqua tangit, omne amburit, si astes, aestu calefacit.
EPIDICVS Duodecim deis plus quam in caelo deorumst immortalium 675
mihi nunc auxilio adiutores sunt et mecum militant.

AP. I tell you now, so that you may know:
it’s better for you to seek another companion for yourself; so, while I follow you,
through lassitude the hamstrings in my poor knees have assailed me. 670
PER. How many examples that fellow there today has used to make sport of me and of you,
and how he has eviscerated my silver resources! AP. Away with him from me, for he is indeed the wrathful son of Vulcan:
wherever he touches, he scorches everything; if you stand near, with heat he makes you hot. EPIDICVS More than twelve gods—more than there are immortal gods in heaven— 675
are now helpers to me and fight with me.

quidquid ego malefeci, auxilia mi et suppetiae sunt domi,
apolactizo inimicos omnis. PER. Vbi illum quaeram gentium?
AP. Dum sine me quaeras, quaeras mea causa vel medio in mari.

whatever wrongdoing I have done, I have helps and succors at home,
I discharge all enemies. PER. Where in the world am I to seek him?
AP. So long as you leave me alone to it, go seek, for my sake, even in the middle of the sea.

EP. Quid me quaeris? quid laboras? quid hunc sollicitas?

EP. Why do you seek me? Why do you labor? Why do you solicit this man?

ecce me. 680
num te fugi, num ab domo apsum, num oculis concessi tuis? >* * * nec tibi supplico. vincire vis?

behold
me. 680
did i flee you, did i absent myself from home, did i withdraw from your eyes? >* * *
nor do i supplicate you. do you wish to bind me?

em, ostendo manus;
tu habes lora, ego te emere vidi: quid nunc cessas? colliga.
PER. Ilicet, vadimonium ultro mi hic facit.

Here— I show my hands;
you have the straps, I saw you buy them: why do you delay now? bind me.
PER. That settles it; here this fellow of his own accord makes me a bail-pledge.

EP. Quin colligas? 685
AP. Edepol mancipium scelestum. EP. Te profecto, Apoecides,
nil moror mihi deprecari. AP. Facile exoras, Epidice.

EP. Why don’t you tie him up? 685
AP. By Pollux, a wicked slave. EP. As for you, Apoecides, I certainly don’t care to have you plead for me. AP. You easily prevail upon me, Epidicus.

EP. Ecquid agis? PER. Tuon arbitratu? EP. Meo hercle vero atque hau tuo
colligandae haec sunt tibi hodie.

EP. Are you doing anything? PER. At your arbitrement? EP. By Hercules, indeed at mine, and not at yours
these are to be bound up by you today.

PER. At non lubet, non colligo.
AP. Tragulam in te inicere adornat, nescio quam fabricam facit. 690
EP. Tibi moram facis, cum ego solutus asto. age, inquam, colliga.

PER. But I don’t care to; I’m not tying up.
AP. He’s preparing to throw a javelin at you; he’s making I know not what fabrication. 690
EP. You’re making delay for yourself, while I stand unbound. Come on, I say, tie up.

PER. At mihi magis lubet solutum te rogitare. EP. At nil scies.
PER. Quid ago?

PER. But it pleases me more to question you unbound. EP. But you’ll know nothing.
PER. What am I to do?

AP. Quid agas? mos geratur. EP. Frugi es tu homo, Apoecides.

AP. What are you to do? Let him be humored. EP. You are a decent man, Apoecides.

PER. Cedo manus igitur. EP. Morantur nihil. atque arte colliga.

PER. Then hand over your hands. EP. They delay nothing. and bind artfully.

PER. Nihil moror. EP. Obnoxiose. PER. Facto opere arbitramino. 695
EP. Bene hoc habet.

PER. I do not delay. EP. Submissively. PER. When the work is done, be arbiters. 695
EP. This is well.

age nunciam ex me exquire, rogita quod lubet.
PER. Qua fiducia ausu's primum, quae emptast nudiustertius,
filiam meam dicere esse? EP. Libuit: ea fiducia.

come now, inquire from me, ask whatever you please.
PER. With what confidence did you dare, in the first place, to say that the one who was bought the day before yesterday is my daughter?
EP. It pleased me: that’s the confidence.

PER. Ain tu? libuit? EP. Aio. vel da pignus, ni ea sit filia.

PER. You say so? it pleased you? EP. I affirm it. Or else give a pledge, if she be not the daughter.

PER. Quam negat novisse mater? EP. Ni ergo matris filia est, 700
in meum nummum, in tuom talentum pignus da. PER. Enim istaec captiost.
sed quis east mulier?

PER. Whom her mother says she does not know? EP. If then she is not the mother’s daughter, 700
put up a pledge on my coin, on your talent. PER. Why, that’s a trap. But who is that woman?

EP. Tui gnati amica, ut omnem <rem> scias.
PER. Dedin tibi minas triginta ob filiam? EP. Fateor datas
et eo argento illam me emisse amicam fili fidicinam
pro tua filia: is te eam ob rem tetigi triginta minis. 705
PER. Quo modo me ludos fecisti de illa conducticia
fidicina?

EP. Your son’s amica, so that you may know the whole <matter>.
PER. Did I give you thirty minae for my daughter? EP. I confess they were given,
and with that silver I bought her—the girlfriend of my son, a fidicina—
in place of your daughter: for that reason I “touched” you for thirty minae. 705
PER. How have you made sport of me with that hired fidicina?

EP. Factum hercle vero, et recte factum iudico.
PER. Quid postremo argento factum est quod dedi? EP. Dicam tibi:
neque malo homini neque maligno tuo dedi Stratippocli.

EP. Done, by Hercules indeed, and I judge it rightly done.
PER. What, finally, was done with the silver that I gave? EP. I will tell you:
neither to a bad man nor to a malign one—I gave it to your Stratippocles.

PER. Quor dare ausu's? EP. Quia mi libitum est. PER. Quae haec, 710
malum, impudentiast?
EP. Etiam inclamitor quasi servos?

PER. Why did you dare to give? EP. Because it pleased me. PER. What is this, 710
the mischief, is this impudence?
EP. Am I even shouted at as if a slave?

PER. Cum tu es liber, gaudeo.
EP. Merui ut fierem. PER. Tu meruisti?

PER. Since you are free, I rejoice.
EP. I merited to become so. PER. You merited it?

EP. Vise intro: ego faxo scies
hoc ita esse. PER. Quid est negoti? EP. Iam ipsa res dicet tibi.

EP. Go look
inside: I’ll make it so you will know
this is so. PER. What is the business? EP. Now the matter itself
will tell you.

abi modo intro. AP. Ei, non illuc temerest. PER. Adserva istum, Apoecides.

go inside now. AP. Hey, it’s not safe to go there rashly. PER. Keep that man under guard, Apoecides.

AP. Quid illuc, Epidice, est negoti? EP. Maxima hercle iniuria 715
vinctus asto, cuius haec hodie opera inventast filia.
AP. Ain tu te illius invenisse filiam?

AP. What is the business there, Epidicus? EP. By Hercules, the greatest injustice 715
I stand bound, I by whose effort today the daughter has been found.
AP. Do you really say that you have found his daughter?

EP. Inveni, et domi est.
sed ut acerbum est, pro bene factis cum mali messim metas.
AP. Quamne hodie per urbem uterque sumus defessi quaerere?

EP. I found her, and she is at home.
but how bitter it is, when for good deeds you reap an evil harvest.
AP. Is it the one whom today through the city we both are exhausted seeking?

EP. Ego sum defessus reperire, vos defessi quaerere. 720
PER. Quid isti oratis opere tanto? mi <orandum> esse intellego,
ut liceat merito huius facere. cedo tu ut exsolvam manus.

EP. I am worn out from finding; you are worn out from searching. 720
PER. What are you all begging from this fellow with such great effort? I understand that is to be done to me, that it may be permitted to do him his due. Come, you—hold out your hands, so that I may unloose them.

EP. Ne attigas. PER. Ostende vero. EP. Nolo.

EP. Do not touch. PER. Show it then. EP. I do not want to.

PER. Non aequom facis.
EP. Numquam hercle hodie, nisi supplicium mihi das, me solvi sinam.
PER. Optumum atque aequissumum oras.

PER. You are not doing what is equitable.
EP. Never, by Hercules, today, unless you give me punishment, will I allow myself to be released.
PER. You ask for what is best and most equitable.

soccos, tunicam, pallium 725
tibi dabo. EP. Quid deinde porro? PER. Libertatem.

socks, a tunic, a cloak 725
I will give to you. EP. What then further? PER. Liberty.

EP. At postea?
novo liberto opus est quod pappet. PER. Dabitur, praebebo cibum.

EP. But after that?
a new freedman needs something to eat. PER. It will be given; I will provide food.

EP. Numquam hercle hodie, nisi me orassis, solves. PER. Oro te, Epidice,
mihi ut ignoscas, siquid imprudens culpa peccavi mea.
at ob eam rem liber esto.

EP. Never, by Hercules, today, unless you beg me, you will be released. PER. I beg you, Epidicus,
to forgive me, if in anything imprudently, by my own culpa, I have offended.
but for that reason be free.

EP. Invitus do hanc veniam tibi, 730
nisi necessitate cogar. solve sane, si lubet. >

EP. Unwillingly I grant this pardon to you, 730
unless I am compelled by necessity. Pay then, by all means, if you like. >

POETA Hic is homo est qui libertatem malitia invenit sua.
plaudite et valete. lumbos porgite atque exsurgite.

POETA This is the man who found liberty by his own malice.
applaud and farewell. extend your loins and rise up.